Weekly Words

Thank you everyone who attended UZ last Sunday. It was a Great Practice Period* The weather was so nice.. we had the window open, we could hear the birds enjoying the weather & the Meditation Hall was filled with many warm hearts* I end up crying a lot during Zen Retreats but never have I cried during kinhin (walking meditation). But last Sunday, for the 1st time at our Practice Group, I found myself in tears during Kinhin because I was filled with joy to be fulfilling this roll bestowed upon me of sharing this wonderful gift of zen practice with others. We are becoming a family here.....

We have now entered Ango “Peaceful Dwelling” of Fall 2012 – a 3 month period devoted to deepening practice. During this time, we are studying the following Text by Korean Zen Master Chinul; “Secrets of Cultivating Mind” from the book Tracing Back the Radiance & the following Dharma Talks have been recorded from Rev. Rinsen Weik during our Ango training Period. Secrets on Cultivating Mind – by Chinul, Tracing Back the Radiance Section 1...

UZ Text Reading from Aug 26th 2012 Excerpt from; A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle “Unconscious people – and many remain unconscious, trapped in their egos throughout their lives – will quickly tell you who they are: their name, their occupation, their personal history, the shape or state of their body, and whatever else they identify with. Others may appear to be more evolved because they think of themselves as an immortal soul or living spirit. But do they really know themselves, or have they just added some spiritual sounding concepts to the content of their mind? Knowing yourself...

Text Reading from UZ Practice Period 8/12/12 Ryokans Moon Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow, ” he mused, “I wish I could...

UZ Text Reading from July 29th 2012 Craving The Dhammapada Chapter 24 The craving of a person who lives carelessly grows like a creeping vine. He plunges from existence to existence, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest. Whomever this miserable craving, this entanglement in the world, overcomes, his sorrows grow, like grass well rained upon. But whoever overcomes this miserable craving, in the world hard to overcome, sorrows fall away from him, like a drop of water from a lotus blossom. I speak to you this auspicious word, to tell all you assembled here: you must dig out the root of...

Text reading from May 13th 2012 UZ Practice Period. Excerpt from Essential Zen One of the things that is realized when you see the nature of self is that what you do and what happens to you are the same thing. Realizing that you do not exist separately from everything else, you realize responsibility: you are responsible for everything you experience. You can no longer say, “He made me angry.” How could he make you angry? Only you can make you angry. That understanding changes your way of relating to the world and your way of looking at stress. You see that stress is created in your mental...

Thus I have heard, The Historical Buddha said: Dhammapada Chapter 14 – [excerpt] The Awakened The Person whose victory is not diminished, whose victory no on in the world can touch, that one is awakened, of limitless sphere, trackless. By what path would you lead that one? The person whom there is no ensnaring, entangling craving, that one is awakened, of limitless sphere, trackless. By what path would you lead that one? They are wise who pursue meditation, delighting in the calm of renunciation. Even the radiant ones long for those who are fully awakened, the mindful. Difficult is the...

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you. ~Sheng-Yen...

On EarthDay 2012, we listened to the Drinking Gourd dharma talk All Dharmas in this Moment which was recorded in Spring of 2011 from our Senior Dharma Teacher Rev. Jay Rinsen Weik of the Drinking Gourd Institute & The Buddhist Temple of Toledo. This dharma discussion refers to a teaching from the Innumerable Meanings Sutra on the subject of impermanence were the historical Buddha talks about how one should consider phenomenon. The text discusses in this recording is found below. Please follow the links below to listen to this Podcast. Listen to this Podcast | The Drinking Gourd...

Last months Practice Period was another 1st* For the 1st time in our Sangha. we listened to a Drinking Gourd In Podcast; Dharma talk from our Senior Dharma Teacher Rev. Rinsen Weik from The Buddhist Temple of Toledo & the Drinking Gourd Institute which was recorded in June 3rd, 2019. This Dharma Talk “Who is Your Enemy?” is about the nature of conflict & breaking down our perceptions which produce enemies. Inspired by a conversation Rev. Rinsen had with a military Veteran which ran into a series of hardships. During this time the BTT was working with text from...

Thus I have heard.. One clings to life although there is nothing to be called life; another clings to death although there is nothing to be called death. In reality there is nothing to be born, Consequently there is nothing to perish. -Bodhidharma From: Shoji – Birth & Death; from Moon in a Dewdrop “Because a buddha is in birth and death, there is no birth and death.” It is also said, “Because a buddha is not in birth and death, a buddha is not deluded by birth and death.” These statements are the essence of the words of the two Zen masters Jiashan and...

The Book of Serenity Case 20 Dizang’s Not Knowing Dizang asked Fayan, “Where are you going?” Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.” Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?” Fayan said, “I don’t know.” Dizang said, “Not knowing is most intimate.” The famous lines spoken by Joshu’s teacher, Nanquan; “The Way is not in knowing or in not knowing. Knowing is false consciousness, not knowing is indifference.” Wansong’s commentary; “Just affirm totally when affirming, but don’t settle down in...

From Master Dogen’s Moon in a Dewdrop: On the Endeavor of the Way Bendō -Wa – Verse 1 All Buddha Tathagatas who directly transmit inconceivable dharma, and actualize supreme, perfect enlightenment have a wondrous way, unsurpassed and unconditioned. Only Buddhas transmitted to Buddhas without veering off. Self-fulfilling samadhi is its standard. Sitting upright, practicing zazen is the authentic gate to the unconfined realm of this samadhi. Although this inconceivable dharma is abundant in each person, it is not actualized without practice, and it is not experienced without...

Zen Master Dogan Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Genjo Koan) Verses 10-12 A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims there is no end to the water. A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies there is no end to the air. However, the fish and the bird have never left their elements. When their activity is large their field is large. When their need is small their field is small. Thus, each of them totally covers its full range, and each of them totally experiences its realm. If the bird leaves the air it will die at once. If the fish leaves the water it will die...

The Greatest Gift To Give – Hua Hu Ching The Unknown Teachings of Lau Tzu #75 Would you like to liberate yourself from the lower realms of life? Would you like to save the world from the degradation and destruction it seems destined for? Then step away from shallow mass movements and quietly go to work on your own self-awareness. If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own...

Dharma Quote

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.” – Albert Einstein

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Dharma Quote

Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing.” – Ajhan Chah